In 2007, fertilizer prices rose more than 200%, according to the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development, IFDC. Doctor Balu Bomb of IFDC says “reasons include new demands for food crops, especially corn (or maize), for ethanol and other biofuels, increased energy and freight prices, higher demand for grain-fed meat in the emerging economies of China, India, and Brazil, and increased use of natural gas as liquefied natural gas.” Hardest hit by this increased cost are the poor farmers of Africa who use fertilizer to replenish the nutrients in the soil.

It is interesting that a large portion of the blame for this increased costs is placed on corn, due to the rise in price of corn bushels which farmers in the United States have noticed and are growing in place of other food commodities. In my opinion, if the government policy of mixing ethanol with gasoline had not been put in place, the cost of corn would not have increased and the substantial increase of fertilizer would have been averted. When the government regulates free markets, it negatively affects more than what was anticipated; food prices are increased as more farmers stop producing wheat, soy, and other commodities for corn. The icing on the cake against these types of regulations was announced last week when a study concluded that ethanol use could actually cause more harm than good due to land use changes caused by corn production.